The creature crossed the field so fast the ground exploded beneath its weight.
Instinct moved my body before thought could catch up.
I twisted sideways just as one of its claws tore through the space where my chest had been less than a second earlier.
The shockwave alone sent me skidding violently across the grass.
Pain shot through my shoulder.
Sharp.
Burning.
Real.
I immediately forced myself back to my feet while the monster turned toward me again, growling low enough to shake the earth beneath us.
Then something inside my mind shifted.
Not violently.
Quietly.
Like an ancient mechanism finally reactivating after an eternity of silence.
Authority of Knowledge partially unlocked.
The words did not appear physically before my eyes.
They emerged directly inside my consciousness with unnatural clarity, and suddenly information flooded my mind instinctively.
The creature standing before me was a Corrupted Earth Bear.
B Rank threat.
Earth elemental affinity.
Berserk state.
Extreme physical strength.
Reinforced hide.
Aggressive regeneration.
And finally:
Estimated survival probability: twenty-one percent.
I stared silently at the creature for a second before a smile slowly appeared on my face.
Good.
That meant I could actually die.
The corrupted bear roared violently before slamming one massive paw into the ground.
Instantly, the earth beneath me erupted upward in a storm of shattered stone.
I barely jumped backward in time as massive spikes burst from the field where I had been standing moments earlier.
So this was elemental magic.
Not theory.
Not distant observation from beyond reality.
Real combat.
Real danger.
The monster charged again.
This time I reacted too slowly.
One claw slammed directly into my side and launched me through the field hard enough to knock the air from my lungs completely.
My body rolled violently through dirt and broken stone before crashing against a massive rock formation.
Pain exploded across my ribs.
For several seconds, I couldn’t breathe properly.
And strangely enough…
I started laughing.
Not loudly.
Not like a madman.
Just a quiet laugh filled with something dangerously close to happiness.
It hurt.
After an eternity beyond suffering, it actually hurt.
Warm blood slowly ran down my side while adrenaline surged violently through my body.
My heartbeat sounded deafening inside my ears as the corrupted bear approached through the destroyed field.
Every step shook the ground.
Its crimson eyes remained locked onto me with pure killing intent.
There was no intelligence left inside them anymore.
No hesitation.
No instinct of self-preservation.
Only rage.
Only corruption.
Authority of Knowledge activated again instinctively.
The corruption infecting the creature had fused directly into its biological structure.
Pain receptors heavily reduced.
Mental state unstable.
Core weakness located near the upper chest region.
Interesting.
Even corrupted, the creature still had a weakness.
I slowly pushed myself upright while wiping blood from the corner of my mouth.
The bear charged again.
And this time…
I reached for the scythe.
The moment my fingers wrapped around the dark metal handle, something ancient awakened inside my body.
Not memory.
Instinct.
My stance shifted naturally.
My breathing stabilized automatically.
Balance corrected itself without conscious effort.
The weapon no longer felt unfamiliar.
It felt correct.
Like an extension of my existence itself.
The corrupted bear swung one enormous claw downward toward my head.
My body moved on its own.
The scythe curved upward elegantly, redirecting the attack just enough for the claws to miss me by centimeters.
The impact still sent violent vibrations through my arms powerful enough to numb my fingers instantly, but I remained standing.
Barely.
So heavy.
Even with perfect mastery implanted into my instincts, this mortal body still struggled to keep up physically.
The creature attacked again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike carried enough force to pulverize stone.
I dodged desperately between its attacks while trying to adapt to my new body in real time.
Several claws tore through my clothing, leaving shallow cuts across my chest and arms.
Too slow.
My thoughts remained faster than my movements.
That disconnect nearly killed me.
The bear suddenly slammed both front legs into the earth simultaneously.
The entire field exploded upward.
I lost my footing for half a second.
That was enough.
The creature’s jaws closed violently around my shoulder before throwing me across the battlefield like broken prey.
Agony tore through my entire body.
I crashed into the ground hard enough to leave a crater beneath me while blood spread rapidly across my black clothing.
For several seconds, my vision blurred.
The bear slowly approached through the dust.
And for the first time since arriving in Nythera, fear truly settled inside my chest.
Not philosophical fear.
Not cosmic curiosity.
Pure survival instinct.
I could die here.
The realization should have terrified me.
Instead…
My smile widened.
The corrupted bear roared and charged again, its massive body tearing through the shattered field like an avalanche given life.
Every instinct inside me screamed to move, and this time my body reacted faster.
Barely.
I twisted sideways as one of its claws ripped through the air beside my face.
The pressure alone sliced several strands of hair away.
Before the creature could recover, I instinctively stepped forward instead of backward, allowing the enormous body to pass beside me while my scythe curved upward in a dark arc.
The blade cut across the bear’s shoulder.
For the first time since the battle began, blood appeared.
The creature roared in pain and violently turned toward me again, but my attention remained fixed on the wound.
Authority of Knowledge reacted immediately, analyzing the damage faster than conscious thought.
The reinforced hide had reduced most of the impact.
My strike had been technically correct, but the force behind it remained insufficient.
This body still lacked proper combat conditioning.
Interesting.
Even so, something else caught my attention.
The moment the blade connected, I had felt it.
Not physically.
Instinctively.
The movement had felt natural.
Smooth.
As though my body had repeated that exact strike countless times before.
The corrupted bear slammed one massive paw downward again, forcing me backward as the earth exploded beneath my feet.
Stone spikes erupted violently from the ground, chasing me across the battlefield while dust and debris filled the air.
I leaped over one eruption before immediately ducking beneath another claw strike aimed directly at my head.
The speed difference between us was still overwhelming, but slowly… my body was beginning to adapt.
No.
More accurately…
I was remembering how to fight.
A grin slowly appeared on my face.
The bear noticed my hesitation for a fraction of a second and immediately lunged forward with terrifying aggression.
Its jaws snapped toward my throat, but this time my scythe moved almost automatically.
The curved blade hooked beneath the creature’s jaw before redirecting its momentum sideways.
The enormous body crashed into the ground beside me hard enough to split the earth apart.
Without hesitation, I attacked.
My body spun instinctively while the scythe carved through the air in a brutal horizontal arc aimed directly toward the bear’s exposed neck.
The creature reacted faster than expected.
Stone armor suddenly formed across part of its body just before impact.
The blade still cut through it.
But not deeply enough.
The corrupted bear roared and slammed its body into mine before I could retreat properly.
Pain exploded across my ribs as I was thrown backward once again.
I crashed violently through several broken rocks before sliding across the ground.
Blood filled my mouth.
And once again…
I smiled.
This feeling.
This pressure.
This uncertainty.
It was intoxicating.
For the first time in eternity, every decision mattered.
One mistake could end everything instantly.
There were no passive laws protecting me anymore.
No reality bending unconsciously around my existence.
Only survival.
Only combat.
The corrupted bear slowly emerged from the dust again, its body visibly damaged now.
Blood ran down parts of its black fur while crimson corruption pulsed unnaturally beneath its skin like living veins.
Authority of Knowledge analyzed the creature continuously.
The corruption infecting the bear was destabilizing its mana circulation.
The more enraged it became, the more unstable its core grew.
However, that same instability was also increasing its physical strength beyond normal B Rank parameters.
So that was why it behaved like a rabid beast.
It was literally destroying itself.
The bear suddenly roared loud enough to shake the surrounding forest before mana exploded outward from its body in violent waves.
The ground beneath it cracked apart as countless stone fragments rose into the air around the creature.
Then they all launched toward me simultaneously.
I reacted instantly.
My scythe moved through the air almost elegantly now, deflecting several projectiles while I dodged the rest by mere centimeters.
One stone still tore across my cheek, opening a shallow cut that sent warm blood running down my face.
The bear charged through the storm of debris immediately afterward.
Fast.
Too fast.
Its claw slammed into my scythe hard enough to force me to one knee.
The ground beneath my feet shattered.
My arms trembled violently from the impact while the creature pushed downward with monstrous strength.
Crimson saliva dripped from its jaws as it tried to crush me completely beneath its weight.
For a brief moment…
I genuinely thought I might lose.
And something inside me responded to that thought.
Mana surged violently through my body.
Darkness began spreading instinctively around the blade of my scythe, thin black flames slowly igniting along the metal edge like living shadows.
The surrounding temperature dropped instantly.
The bear froze for half a second.
Not from intelligence.
From instinct.
Even in its corrupted state, the creature sensed something dangerous awakening before it.
And for the first time since arriving in Nythera…
I reached toward the power of darkness.
The black flames spread slowly across the blade of my scythe, moving like living shadows rather than ordinary fire.
They produced no heat.
No light.
If anything, the darkness itself seemed to deepen around them unnaturally.
For a brief moment, even the corrupted bear hesitated.
Its instincts understood something its broken mind could not.
Danger.
I could feel the mana inside my body reacting violently as the darkness emerged for the first time.
The sensation was strange.
Unlike physical movement or weapon mastery, magic did not feel natural immediately.
It felt wild.
Aggressive.
Almost alive.
Authority of Knowledge responded instantly.
Dark Element detected.Compatibility: Extremely High.Current Output Stability: Low.Warning: Excessive mana release may damage the body.
Interesting.
So even my own power could destroy me if I lost control.
The thought only made my excitement grow stronger.
The corrupted bear roared and charged again, desperately trying to crush me before the unfamiliar mana surrounding my body stabilized completely.
This time…
I moved first.
My foot pushed against the shattered ground and my body surged forward instinctively.
The black flames trailing behind the scythe left thin distortions in the air itself as I closed the distance between us.
Faster.
Much faster than before.
The bear swung one enormous claw downward, but my body twisted smoothly beneath the attack.
For the first time since the battle began, the creature failed to follow my movements properly.
The scythe curved upward.
One clean strike.
Black flames exploded across the bear’s chest.
The creature roared in agony as darkness spread violently through the wound like corruption consuming corruption itself.
Parts of its stone-like armor cracked apart instantly while black fire devoured the unstable mana beneath its skin.
So that was how dark magic behaved.
Not destruction.
Consumption.
The corrupted bear staggered backward before immediately retaliating by slamming both front legs into the ground again.
The earth beneath me erupted upward in a storm of stone spikes, but now my perception had changed completely.
I could see the mana moving.
Authority of Knowledge continuously analyzed the flow of energy around the battlefield, predicting the direction of each eruption moments before it happened.
My body reacted instinctively to the information flooding my mind.
Dodge.
Step.
Turn.
Counter.
The battlefield itself slowly started making sense to me.
The bear attacked wildly, destroying everything around us with monstrous force, but little by little the fight stopped feeling chaotic.
It started feeling slow.
Another claw swung toward my head.
I slipped past it.
Another eruption of stone exploded beneath my feet.
I avoided it effortlessly.
The corrupted bear roared louder and louder as frustration mixed with madness.
The corruption inside its body was becoming increasingly unstable from prolonged combat and the black flames still spreading through its wounds.
Then suddenly…
Authority of Knowledge reacted again.
Core exposure probability increasing.
The creature’s unstable mana circulation had reached its limit.
That was the opening.
The bear charged one final time, completely abandoning defense in exchange for brute force.
The ground shattered beneath its weight while enormous amounts of earth mana gathered around its claws.
A direct hit would kill me instantly.
But by now…
I understood.
At the very last second, I stepped forward instead of backward.
The world slowed.
Not literally.
My perception simply sharpened beyond what this body should normally achieve.
The claw passed beside my face closely enough for me to feel the wind pressure tearing across my skin.
And then…
I struck.
The scythe pierced directly into the exposed section near the creature’s upper chest.
Black flames erupted violently.
The corrupted bear froze.
For one silent second, the entire battlefield stopped moving.
Then darkness spread through the creature’s body like cracks consuming stone.
The enormous monster collapsed.
The earth trembled beneath its corpse.
Silence returned to the field.
I remained motionless for several seconds, breathing heavily while blood continued running down my arms and side.
Every muscle in my body burned from exhaustion.
And then I felt it.
Energy.
The moment the corrupted bear died, dark mana slowly emerged from its corpse before flowing directly toward me.
The black flames around my scythe reacted instinctively as the energy entered my body.
Warmth spread through my chest.
Authority of Knowledge immediately analyzed the phenomenon.
Energy Absorption successful.Foreign mana converted into compatible energy.Physical condition slightly restored.Restrictions partially weakened.
So that was how my growth would function.
Interesting.
A slow grin appeared on my face.
The more enemies I defeated…
The stronger I would become.
Suddenly, distant voices echoed from somewhere beyond the field.
“Over there!”
“Wait… what the hell happened here?!”
I turned slowly toward the edge of the destroyed battlefield.
A young man and woman stood there frozen in shock.
Twins.
The boy had short blond hair, twin daggers attached at his waist, and lightning mana faintly crackling around his body instinctively.
Beside him stood a girl carrying a mage staff almost as tall as herself, her long silver-blue hair moving softly beneath the wind.
Both stared silently at the corpse of the corrupted bear.
Then at me.
More specifically…
At the blood covering my body.
The blond boy was the first to react.
“…You’re still alive?”